Stop playing the blame game
New Straits Times 03/03/2006 NORAMTAZ ABDULLAH Petaling Jaya

SINCE the Bukit Cerakah land debacle that hit Selangor last year, the State has been afflicted with one fiasco after another, the most recent being the floods in Shah Alam.

How could it happen to Shah Alam, the most dynamic and fastest-growing region in the Klang Valley?

Its development was supposedly well planned right from its inception. This is something for the Public Works Department, the Drainage and Irrigation Department and most importantly, the physical planners in the State to ponder. What is even more disconcerting is the response to such a catastrophic event.

Whether it comes from politicians or civil servants from the relevant agencies, one discernible trend is the denial syndrome followed by the quick-fix excuse or explanation put out for the public.

The next step is to assign blame to those who could possibly be made responsible.

In the ensuing debate, passing the buck and finger pointing is quite common. And the musical chairs go on.

What baffles most people is that no matter what happens, everyone will stay as they are and it will be business as usual at the end of the day, regardless of the magnitude and seriousness of the consequences of the phenomenon in question.

It seems almost impossible to pin down who is to take the full responsibility for any mishap.

Survey loss

FLASH floods are common in Shah Alam. The floods which occurred on Feb 26 came 11 days after the floods on the 15th.

Prior to that, floods have occurred several times, although not as bad as the last one.

Whenever there is a flood, we tend to blame the downpour. Rarely do we pinpoint the man-made factors.

Seldom do we realise that the weather pattern and the total precipitation have remained almost the same for many, many years.

So why are these floods occurring now?

The last floods caused a lot of damage to property and business. The authorities should carry out a survey to determine magnitude of damages and losses suffered.

In determining mitigation measures to be taken, the following must be thoroughly investigated:

• The conditions of Da- mansara River with its tributaries — Air Kuning River, Kayu Ara River, Rumput River, Timbul River, Payang River and Simpai River. Are they functioning normally as a drainage system?

• The conditions and status of the areas that are being drained by the above rivers. Have they been overdeveloped, causing loss of vegetation cover and damage to the river system?

ABDUL AZIZ SAAD
Shah Alam

Not unexpected

ACCORDING to recent media reports, the Shah Alam City Council (MBSA), is the most efficient local council in Selangor.

However, the worst flash floods that hit Shah Alam and, in particular, the TTDI Jaya housing estate and areas around Batu Tiga including the Federal Highway on Feb 26, have no doubt tarnished MBSA’s image.

Apparently, MBSA has given priority to and focused mainly on landscaping and beautifying the city instead of giving equal attention to flood-mitigation projects in the city.

It cannot give the excuse that the floods were unexpected due to the unusual downpour.

The devastating floods in Section 25 Shah Alam on Dec 24, 1995 should have served as a grim reminder not to neglect the main rivers that flow in the city.

If only the authorities had had the foresight to ensure the rivers and the drainage system were up to the mark, the floods might have been prevented.


S. RAGUNATHAN
Petaling Jaya

Stop approvals

I TRULY sympathise with the property owners in Shah Alam affected by the recent floods.

Besides the damage to their possessions, they have to suffer the unavoidable loss in their property value.

The Shah Alam City Council (MBSA) was blamed for doing little to warn property owners and responding too late to help them. Many suggestions were made to prevent such incidents from happening again.

However, I think the biggest blame should be put on the MBSA for approving a housing scheme so near rivers and flood plains.

If MBSA knows anything about geology and city planning, they should have been aware that no residential development should be built along a river and its flood plains for obvious reasons.

Flood plains are only good for parks and recreation, not for houses.

The city council and town planing department must not approve anymore housing development unless developers are willing to refill the project land to a level higher than the historical flood level.

Despite recent court rulings on the limit of legal responsibility of city councils in their supervision of property development, all relevant city councils must buck up and show better technical and professional competence so that the taxpayers’ interest is better protected.

Y.K. LEONG
Kuala Lumpur